Ear for pail and bucket bails.



T. JEROLAMAN.

EAR FOB. PAIL AND BUCKET BAILS.

APPLICATION FILED MARI. 1, 1909.

971,67. Patented Oct. 4, 1910.

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EAR FOR PAIL AND BUCKET BAILS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented @et. 4, 1910.

Application filed March 1, 1909. Serial No. 480,563.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE JEROLAMAN, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Belleville, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ears forPail and Bucket Bails, of which the following is a specification.

he invention relates to improvements in ears for pail and bucket bailsor handles, and it consists in the novel features and structurehereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

A great deal of inconvenience and loss have been occasioned by theinsecurity of ears fastened to the sides of wooden pails, buckets andthe like to receive the ends of the bails or handles. Those ears of theprior art have customarily been made of sheet metal and secured inposition by small nails driven through holes in them and into the woodof the pail or bucket. It is matter of common knowledge that with thenatural use of wooden pails and buckets and also under the roughtreatment to which they are at times subjected, the ears frequentlybecome loosened and finally detached.

The purpose of my invention is to provide ears of very durable characterhaving as integral parts thereof means whereby they may be efiectuallyand with the maximum degree of permanency, quickly secured to the sidesof a pail or bucket.

In carrying out my invention, I form the ears of sheet metal and cutfrom the interior portions thereof and bend at an angle thereto, asuitable number of prongs to be driven into the sides of the pail orbucket for holding the ears rigidly in place. I preferably provide saidprongs at opposite sides of the vertical center line of the ears and inaddition form on the lower end of the ear a transverse prong beveledupwardly on the lower side of its pointed end so that when said prong isdriven into the wood it will be deflected slightly upwardly and form ineffect a hook not only securing the lower end of the ear but resistingin an effectual manner the strain exerted by the weight of the bucketand its contents on the ears when the bucket is suspended by the handleor bail. The ears for pails and buckets above the smaller sizes, willpreferably have two prongs on each side of their vertical center lineand said prongs will be arranged in staggered order and by preferenceone prong on each side will be beveled on the inner side of its pointedend so that when driven into the wood it will be deflected outwardlyfrom a straight line, said two prongs thus when driven into the woodtaking diverging lines and resisting the detachment of the ear. Theother two side prongs of the ear, one being at each side, willpreferably be straight and of sufficient length to pass through to theinner side of the pail or bucket and be, at their points, bent over orclenched.

The invention will be fully understood from the detailed descriptionhereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,in which Figure 1 is a vertical section through a portion of a bucketequipped with an ear embodying my invention, the ear being in section onthe zigzag dotted line 1-1 of Fig. 2 so as to show the four securingprongs, two being on each side of the vertical center line of the ear;Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; F ig. 3 is a horizontal sectionof the same on the dotted line 83 of Fig. 2 and is presented to show thetwo diverging prongs; Fig. l is a horizontal section of the same on thedotted line 4:4: of Fig. 2 and is presented to illustrate the two sideprongs which project through the wood and have their pointed ends bentover or clenched; Fig. 5 is a view corresponding with Fig. 1 showing anear having one prong at each side, the section being on the zigzagdotted line 5--5 of Fig. 6 so as to illustrate both prongs; and Fig. 6is an inner face view. of the ear presented in Fig. 5.

In the drawings, referring to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, 10 denotes aportion of a pail or bucket, 11 the ear of my invention, and 12 theusual bail or handle. The ear 11 is formed of sheet metal and verticallyelon gated in outline, and at its upper end said ear is provided with ahole 13 to receive the end of the bail 12 in a customary manner.

The body of the ear 11 is formed with four pointed prongs ll, 15, 16 and17 which are of triangular shape and out from the interior portions ofsaid body and bent therefrom, leaving in said body the openings 18previously occupied by the metal of the prongs. The prongs at theirbroad ends remain integrally connected with the ear, and said prongs arein staggered order with those numbered 14, 16 at one side of thevertical center line of the ear and those numbered 15, 17 at the otherside of said center line. The prongs 1%, 15, 1G, 17 will pref erably beformed with serrated edges, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to increase theirbinding action with the wood, and the diago nally opposite prongs 15, 16will be beveled at the inner facing sides of their outer portions, sothat when driven into the wood said prongs will take diverging lines orbecome spread apart while entering the wood, as shown in Fig. 3, therebyincreasing the hold of the ear on the pail. I prefer to have thediagonally opposite prongs 14:, 17 straight and of such length that theymay pass slightly beyond the thickness of the pail or bucket so thattheir pointed ends may be clenched over, as shown in Fig. t.

The lower end of the ear 11 is formed with a securing prong 19 which ispreferably beveled at the lower side of its outerv portion so that whendriven into the wood it may take a slightly upward course, as shown inFig. 1, and thereby not only increase its hold on the pail or bucket butbe enabled the more effectually to resist the strain exerted by theweight of the bucket and its contents on the ears when the bucket issuspended by the handle or bail.

The ear shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4. is intended for buckets adapted tohold considerable weight, and hence the ear is provided with the fourside prongs and one lower end prong, so as to be entirely eflicient anddurable for the purposes intended. The ear is in one integral piece andis fastened to the side of the bucket or pail by the prongs being driveninto the material there of, no nails or other separate fastening meansbeing employed.

I have found that a bucket ear constructed in accordance with myinvention is entirely durable and maintains its connection with thebucket in a most satisfactory manner regardless of the rough treatmentto which the bucket may be subjected. The prongs are driven into thewood until the body of the ear is pressed into intimately close relationwith the side of the bucket, and thereafter any swelling of the wood ofthe bucket due to moisture will result in I portions of the woodswelling into the openings 18 in the ear and in the latter becomingthereby additionally adapted to resist strains exerted against it whenthe bucket is lifted by the handle. By forming the prongs let, 15, 16and 17 from the interior facture but in its construction and arrangement it is entirely durable and highly eflicient for the purposesintended.

For pails and buckets of smaller capacity than that intended to berepresented in Figs. 1 and 2, I prefer to form the ear in the nannerindicated in Figs. 5 and 6, in which 20 denotes the ear and 21 a portionof the side of a pail or bucket. The ear 20 is formed of sheet metal andhas at its upper end a hole or eye 22 to receive the end of the bail andat its lower end a prong n3 corresponding exactly with the prong 19 ofthe car 11 hereinbefore described. The ear 20 is formed with side prongs24:, 25 cut from interior portions of the body of the ear andcorresponding exactly with the prongs 1s, 17 of the ear 11. The ear 2Odiffers from the car 11 only in that it is smaller than said ear 11 andomits the prongs 15, 16 with which the ear 11 is equipped, and hence itis not necessary to enter into a minute description of the ear 20. Theear 20 will be applied to the side of the bucket or pail by the prongs24:, 25, 23 being driven into the wood, and said prongs will be found tobe entirely sufficient for rigidly and durably maintaining the ear inposition.

I do not limit my invention in every instance to the number andarrangement of securing prongs illustrated in the drawings, but I havedisclosed the most satisfactory construction of ears known to me. Inevery instance the car will be of sheet metal and in one integral piecewith the securing prongs, and the prongs will be of such number anddisposition that they will effectually hold the ear in place without theuse of nails, tacks or other separable fastening means.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters-Patent,is:

1. A, bail-ear in one integral piece of sheet metal formed at its upperend with a hole to receive the bail and having integral prongs disposedat opposite sides of its vertical center line out from the interiorportions of the body of the ear and on difierent horizontal planes, tobe driven into the wood for holding the ear in place; substantially asset forth.

2. A bail-ear in one integral piece of sheet metal formed at its upperend with a hole to receive the bail and having integral prongs disposedat opposite sides of its vertical center line out from the interiorportions of the body of the ear and on different horizontal planes andalso an integral prong at its lower end, all said prongs to be driveninto the wood for holding the ear in place; substantially as set forth.

3. A bail-ear in one integral piece of sheet metal formed at its upperend with a hole to receive the bail and having integral prongs disposedat opposite sides of its vertical center line out from the interiorportions of the body of the ear and on diflerent horizontal planes andalso an integral prong at its lower end, all said prongs to be driveninto the wood for holding the ear in place, and a prong at each side ofthe ear being beveled at the inner side of its end so that said twoprongs when driven into the wood will expand outwardly, and said lowerprong being beveled on the lower side of its pointed end so that it willbe deflected upwardly when driven into the wood; substantially as setforth.

4. A bail-ear of sheet metal having integral side prongs 14, 15, 16, 17in staggered order and to be driven into the wood, two of said prongsbeing beveled 011 the inner sides of their pointed ends so that they maydeflect outwardly when driven into the wood and the other two prongsbeing of sufficient length to pass through the wood and be clenched ontheir ends; substantially as set forth.

5. A bail-ear of sheet metal having in tegral side prongs 14k, 15, 16,17 in staggered order and to be driven into the wood, two of said prongsbeing beveled on the inner sides of their pointed ends so that they maydeflect outwardly when driven into the wood and the other two prongsbeing of suflicient length to pass through the wood and be clenched ontheir ends, and said ear also having a transverse integral prong at itslower end to enter the wood; substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, this 27th day of February, A. D. 1909.

THEODORE J EROLAMAN.

Witnesses AR'JHUR MARION, CHAS. C. GILL.

